Note: This is the first of an occasional series presented by the YU Center for Israel Studies. There is only one American historian of Judaism

(Originally published in Torah Musings)   I. The Prohibition of Consuming Meat and Wine During the Nine Days The Talmud (Bava Basra 60b) relates a

“I wish I would have had such a kinnus (gathering) when I was a bachur transitioning from yeshiva ketana to yeshiva gedolah,” Rabbi Avigdor Bernstein,

Being responsible and caring means not only caring about what will be best for ourselves, but also what will be best for others. In this

Last Shabbos was the first yahrzeit of a truly special young man, Binyamin Yisrael Gonsher, who passed away at the young age of 14 due

A lot was at stake… We were perched to enter the promised land, launch Jewish history and assemble the kingdom of God. Only two men

The legendary rosh yeshiva and author, Rav Shimshon Pincus, zt”l, was a talmid chacham, ba’al avodah and tzaddik, who served as Chief Rabbi in the

Bilam said, “May my soul die the death of the upright (‘yesharim’)” (23:10), to which Ramban explains that Bilaam was referring to Bnei Yisrael who

A few summers ago I was invited to co-star in a video entitled “The Do and Don’ts of Shana Rishona (first year of marriage).” While

In Parshat Balak, the king of Moav, Balak, called upon Bilam to curse the Jews. The first time that Balak sent messengers to Bilam to

Question: I learned that one should prioritize giving tzedaka to relatives over others. I give a nice amount of tzedaka, almost exclusively out of the

Born and bred in the Country Club area of Teaneck, and a product of local schools, Ari Solomon knows of what he speaks when he